Chinese authorities increase ‘monitoring of churchgoers’

Churchgoers in China are undergoing, increased monitoring from the authorities. Incidentally, Christian churchgoers in China as they were engaged in fight with the officials who were enforcing new regulations related to churches and churchgoers.

In keeping with these new regulations, surveillance cameras must be installed incised the churches. This ordinance was issued last year, according to which church administrations are to place closed-circuit television cameras in the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches in the Zhejiang Province in China.

This law in Zhejiang province comes after two years of that the Chinese authorities had directed the churches to remove the crosses from the church buildings. Back in 2014, the movement to remove crosses from the churches’ tops was initiated by the authorities.

Churchgoers from the city of Wenzhou, were injured and hospitalized after they tried oppose the installation of surveillance cameras inside the churches. These Christians had been engaged in clashes with the authorities, as the churchgoers tried to stop the authorities from installing cameras.

“Government officials came to the churches and put up cameras by force. Some pastors and worshipers who didn’t agree to the move were dragged away. Some people needed to be treated in a hospital after fighting the officials,” a Christian from Wenzhou stated.

In keeping with China Aid- a U.S.-based religious rights group, Chinese churches were obligated to install cameras at the gates of churches, pulpits and the offering boxes. Chinese Christians have expressed feelings of confusion regarding this policy. “We Christians do good deeds and we don’t do anything to endanger the public. I don’t understand why the government wants to monitor us,” a Chinese Christian said.